After years as the king of the mobile handset industry, Nokia’s fall from grace has been rapid since the late noughties. The new kids on the block (Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s BlackBerry and the wave of smartphones based on Google’s Android-platform) have not just overtaken Nokia, but they have streaked into the distance and over the horizon whilst Nokia has been trying to work out its strategy.

But today Nokia finally announced that it has joined forces with Microsoft in an attempt to regain lost ground.

The companies claim that working together can “drive innovation that is at the boundary of hardware, software and services”. Which simply means that they hope they’ll be able to come up with something that consumers will want more than anything their competitors are already developing.

In the meantime, it means that Nokia’s smartphones will use the Windows phone operating system and Nokia’s existing operating systems will be gradually sidelined. Microsoft’s Bing will power Nokia’s search services, while Nokia Maps will be a core part of Microsoft’s mapping services.

Will the collaboration be a success? Only time will tell but whatever they produce it will have to something pretty special to topple the iPhone and Android devices from the top of the tree.

As mobile phones develop and become increasingly important to our lives for both work and pleasure, make sure you never miss a call by using an 08 number with call forwarding to your mobile from 08 Direct.